Supreme Court Asks ECI To Sympathetically Consider Pleas To Extend Deadlines Of Kerala & UP SIR

The Supreme Court on Thursday (December 18) asked the Election Commission of India to "sympathetically consider" requests to extend the deadline for the submission of the enumeration forms in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing the batch of pleas challenging the SIR process across several states in the country. Sr Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for the petitioners in the UP SIR matter, stressed the need for the extension of time for submitting the enumeration forms in Uttar Pradesh. Stating that the next elections in the State of UP are to be held in March-April of 2027, Dave said that there was no need for any haste in the SIR of UP Rolls.Notably, the ECI on December 11 revised the enumeration period in UP to be by 26th December, and the revised date of publication of draft rolls is now 31st December.Sr Adv Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, said that he would need additional time for filing the response on the petitions challenging the SIR process in UP and Kerala. On the issue of extension of time, he said: "The ECI is keeping a watch and wherever required, it is extending the time. So it is not that if two weeks are given now, it cannot be extended further." Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitions concerning Kerala, stressed that 25 Lakh names are on the verge of deletion in the State. He added, "Husband is there, the wife's name is not there, they have deleted the wife's name." On the issue of time extension, the Court allowed the petitioners to make a representation before the ECI. It further directed the ECI, "to consider such representation sympathetically....and keeping in view all the ground realities and all the relevant factors, an appropriate decision shall be taken by the ECI." Advocate Charu Mathur, appearing for an applicant, submitted that ECI has now engaged volunteers for the process, but citizens' personal data is at risk of being leaked. She stressed that this was a crucial aspect, as the instances of digital arrest scams are on the rise. The bench declined to entertain the said application. The deadline for Kerala SIR was extended twice by the ECI, first from December 4 to December 11, and then from December 11 to December 18, due to the clash with the local body elections.The Court also recorded that ECI will be making its submissions on the petitions challenging the legality of the SIR on January 6, 2026. The petitioners' side has completed their arguments.Case Details : Association for Democratic Reforms and Ors. v. Election Commission of India, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 and connected matters

Supreme Court Asks ECI To Sympathetically Consider Pleas To Extend Deadlines Of Kerala & UP SIR

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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